We're made from clay but also from a spirit that is not of this world. Negotiations between the two are now in session. Meanwhile, you may find here some reviews, commentary, translations, short fiction, links to various articles, excerpted quotes, exegesis, and anything else that has a chance to kindle, edify, anger, or draw a yawn. •••Twitter••• @i_abusharif

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Cosmology and Newton’s Magic

Science, as it was once practiced, devoted much of itself toward the sacred. I've heard this said many times, and, in general, understand something about what this means, but only a little. For help, I came across this quote in an anthology called The Practical Cogitator (I highly highly recommend it). John Maynard Keynes says this about Isaac Newton, a great mathematician whose discovery or "invention" of calculus made modern technology possible, a man who, in his later years, was chastised by the Church of England for his scandalous conclusions, such as a Creator needing to be unlike His creation, if only we looked closely at nature to fully realize that. Anyhow, here's what Keynes says about Newton and what went through his mind as he examined the world:

Why do we call [Isaac Newton] a magician? Because he looked on the whole universe and all that is in it as a riddle, as a secret which could be read by applying pure thought to certain evidence, certain mystic clues which God had laid about the world to allow a sort of philosopher’s treasure hunt to the esoteric brotherhood. He believe that these clues were to be found partly in the evidence of the heavens and in the constitution of elements. . . . He regarded the universe as a cryptogram set by the Almighty—just as he himself wrapt the discovery of calculus in a cryptogram when he communicated with Leibnitz.

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...

This is all very nice, but what does it mean today, especially for Muslims? Every Muslim is familiar with the hoary dictum that "there is no conflict between Islam and science". Except when there is. For one example, see

Interesting comment, Anon. On one level, I would agree with you in abstraction, but still not sure how this relates to this post. I had to re-read it twice to see where I advanced the mantra: No conflict between science and religion in Islam. I never brought that up here at all. Instead I mentioned a general statement about science and its past sacred function. That's all. So if you just wanted to leave a link to the article, just say so. No need to fabricate drama.

Thank you very much for this passage alluding to the past sacred character of science (at least in the eyes of Newton). In one of my university courses on the history and philosophy of science, I recall my professor (a historian of physics) observing that modern historians of science are often embarassed by the fact that with greater knowledge of the full corpus of Newton's writings, we now know that he wrote more about "alchemy" than he did about physics.

About Me

Twitter: @i_abusharif
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Born and raised in the Chicago area, Ibrahim is a professor of journalism at Northwestern University in Qatar. His research interests include the intersection of media and culture; literary journalism; media in the Arab world; and religion and media. He is also a journalist and a writer of non-fiction and fiction. His articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, both print and online. He has also worked closely on translation projects of the Quran. And he finds it very interesting to write about himself in the third person like this. It's possible he'll revise this introduction and be more personable. But "not now!" he says. (Email: fromclay1@yahoo.com)